Richard Virenque

Richard Virenque
Virenque at the 2003 Tour de France
Personal information
Full nameRichard Virenque
NicknameRicco
Born (1969-11-19) 19 November 1969 (age 54)
Casablanca, Morocco[1][2]
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10+12 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb; 10 st 3 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClimbing specialist
Professional teams
1991–1992RMO
1993–1998Festina–Lotus
1999–2000Team Polti
2001–2002Domo–Farm Frites–Latexco
2003–2004Quick-Step–Davitamon
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
Mountains classification
(19941997, 1999, 2003, 2004)
7 individual stages
(1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 20022004)
Giro d'Italia
1 individual stage (1999)

One-Day Races and Classics

Paris–Tours (2001)
Medal record
Representing  France
Men's road bicycle racing
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1994 Agrigento Elite Men's Road Race

Richard Virenque[n 1] (born 19 November 1969) is a retired French professional road racing cyclist. He was one of the most popular French riders with fans[3] for his boyish personality and his long, lone attacks.[n 2] He was a climber, best remembered for winning the King of the Mountains competition of the Tour de France a record seven times, but he is best known from the general French public as one of the central figures in a widespread doping scandal in 1998, the Festina Affair, and for repeatedly denying his involvement despite damning evidence.

  1. ^ "L'Equipe, Rider database, Richard Virenque". Lequipe.fr. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Richard Virenque biography". Membres.lycos.fr. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  3. ^ As Tu Vu... cote-azur, Richard Virenque


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